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(No Model.)

v.-M. HOLLYDAY.-

LOOK.

No. 453,082. PatentedMay 26,1891.

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By M g ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VIRGINIA M. HOLLYDAY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 453,082, dated May 26,18911. Application filed November 6, 1890. Serial No. 370,556. (Nomodel.)

To to whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, VIRGINIA M. H OLLYDAY, of Baltimore city, in theState of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks,of which the following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of an in provement in looks designed toprevent the falling out of the key when the door is slammed, to preventthe introduction of a skeleton key, and to prevent the key also frominjuring the plaster when the door opens against a wall.

It consists in a spring-clamp applied to the interior of the lock andarranged to permit the key to be turned down into a pendent position andthere locked in place, as hereinafter fully described.

Figure l is aview of my improved look with the plate partly broken awayto show the construction and arrangement of my improvement within. Fig.2 is a vertical transverse section taken through the keyhole, and Fig. 3is a detail.

A is the removable plate; B, the external case; 0, the bolt, and D thetumbler. These parts are of the usual construction, except that theexternal case B is formed with a chamber B around the key-hole forcontaining the improvement added. On the inner side of the chamber B isarranged a clamp for the key, composed of two spring-jaws b b, Fig. 3,which shut together or press toward each other upon opposite sides ofthe key-hole. These spring-jaws are D-shaped pieces of metal that slidein guides 61 on the case, being forced together by spiral springs 0.These two jaws are placed in the chamber B and far enough away from theplane of rotation of the key-bit so as not to be in the way of the bitin revolving to throw or withdraw the bolt. The key-hole a is also cutdown or continued through the bottom of the case, so as to permit thekey K to be swung down into a Vertically-pendent position, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 2.

The operation of my invention is as follows: After the bolt is thrown bythe key the latter is turned so that its bit is in a horizontal plane,and the key is partly pulled out, as shown by dotted lines K. The wholekey is then swung down into a pendent position, as shown by dotted linesat K the extended keyhole permitting this to be done, while theclamping-jaws close behind the shank of the key, as shown in Fig. 1. Bythis means it will be seen that the key is firmly held against droppingout, and the key-hole is obstructed so that a skeleton key cannot beintroduced.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is.

1. The combination, with a lock and its case having its key-holeextended downwardly through the bottom of the case, of aspringclamparranged within the case for holding the key, substantiallyas shown anddescribed.

2. A lock-case having a projecting chamber around its key-hole, withthekey-hole extending down through the bottom of the case, in combinationwith a pair of clamping-jaws arranged in said chamber to come togetheracross the key-hole, substantially as shown and described.

3. A lock'ease having a projecting chamber B around its key-hole, withthe key-hole extending down through the bottom of the case, incombination with the D-shaped sliding jaws b 1), arranged in saidchamber and provided with guides d d, and the springs c 0, arrangedwithin the D-shaped jaws, substantially as shown and described.

VIRGINIA M. HOLLYDAY.

Witnesses:

MARY G. DALLAM, ANNA L. WILLsON.

